Chilly Loaf (Turkey Meatloaf with Peppers)

This was scrumptious. Did not take any pictures, but did write down the recipe. I'd like to make it again, so i'll post it despite no pictures.

It's hot pepper season around here, so i've been trying to use my surplus in new and unusual ways. I made a delicious thai curry with homemade yogurt last week, lack tomatoes during the heatwave so no salsa, and made chilly last week also. This time, i'll skip the soup and just make a loaf 'o chilly. You could probably use any meat with this recipe, but don't skimp on the peppers: Firey kick is good for that heart!

• 1 pound meat, i used ground turkey
• 1 heaping cup diced red ripe jalapenos with seeds, plus one habanero with seeds removed
• Tsp smoked paprika
• Drizzle olive oil (the turkey meat has no fat)
• Several splashes worchestershire sauce
• 2 beaten eggs
• 1/2 cup finely diced jicama
• 1/4 cup frozen corn
• Pinches chilly powder and cumin
• Salt and pepper
• Tomato paste - 2 spoonfulls plus enough to coat the top of the loaf

Mush it all together and bake in a greased loaf pan at 350 for an hour- covered for the first 45 minutes.
The loaf was delicious and spicy, but i was almost more excited about the side dish i made: mashed potatoes.

I'm normally not very good at making mashed potatoes, but i gave it a shot and they turned out AMAZING.

• 2 red potatoes, diced into even chunks
• 1 LARGE garlic clove
• Homemade yogurt - thin and not super duper tangy
• Pinch dill
• Salt and Pepper

Boil the potatoes with the garlic clove. When potatoes are soft and just shy of falling apart, drain well. With a potato masher smush up the potatoes with the dill, salt, pepper and perhaps a pat of butter. Add yogurt last so as not to cook the beneficial bacterias. I probably used about 1/2 cup at the most, probably more like 1/4 cup. The resultant spuds were creamy, soft, and super delicious! Not scary yogurty like some yogurt mashed potatoes i've had. The yogurt complimented while not overpowering.

PS - For leftovers the next night, i took the leftover meat loaf, chopped it up and mixed it with some of the leftover crushed tomatoes i used as i was out of tomato paste, brought to a simmer, served on soft buns: sloppy joes!

This post also found at Simple Lives Thursday.

Pizza From Scratch

Thank you, Heather for sending me this recipe from the Bread Bible! This crust was easy, fit into my day's schedule, and DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!! I'm serious. I wanted to save leftovers. This was not possible due to the level of delicious. Had to be eaten. All of it. Right away.

Anyhoo, i got up around 9 (yay for weekends with puppies who sleep through the night with no accidents!) and put together this dough (into which i added about 20% whole wheat flour and some dried herbs), leaving it out for half an hour, then popping it into the fridge. About an hour before cooking time i took it out of the fridge and stuck it on a pan that i should have greased more as i had a hard time dislodging the pizza for serving later. Every single ingredient i used was from my garden or a friend's who i made mozzarella with that morning. Not my best batch of mozz, but we were highly distracted by puppy playtime and neighborhood gossip.
For this batch of pizza i used the following toppings:

• Roasted garlic cloves
• Roasted thai eggplants with olive oil, smoked paprika and salt
• Multiplying onions
• Fresh diced tomatoes
• Fresh diced bell pepper
• Fresh diced red ripe serrano pepper
• Salt and pepper
• Pesto sauce
• Bunch genovese basil, few leaves lemon basil, pinch walnuts, pinch romano cheese, salt, generous drizzle garlic infused olive oil

I remembered that my stick blender had this handy dandy food processor attachment - worked great for this small batch of pesto without having to dig out the big food processor. I baked the crust for 5 minutes, popped a huge air bubble, slathered with pesto, topped with toppings, baked another 5 minutes and voila! Deliciosa! Paired with the very odd but cool film "Something Wicked This Way Comes" we had a most excellent Sunday night.  Once i have a more active life filled with fence building and other laborious chores we'll have to make this a Sunday tradition! For now, my mostly sedentary self will only indulge in this recipe on special occasions. I hope to increase my 'bread' repertoire more, and this was a good start to help me build my self confidence.

The bottom got nice and crispy but not burnt, the dough complimented the toppings perfectly, a little bit of spinkled cheese and salt tied it all together: groans of satisfaction filled the room.

Do you have a favorite pizza crust recipe?

Chicken and Rice Casserole, a la Miranda

What's more homey sounding than chicken and rice casserole? It's the classic housewife, prepare ahead, easy to cook, low fuss, ready to eat when you get back from church meal. It's also my Gramma Vivian's specialty. This is NOT my gramma's casserole!

I did some research, found some recipes i liked to get the cooking time and temperature figured out, then did some serious 'flare' adding. I used ripe ingredients from the garden, and spices and herbs that suit our pallete. I served it his and hers style - his on a big plate with a breast of chicken and lots of rice, hers on a little plate with chicken and a little rice. Delicious! And even better, SO EASY! Which is a good thing when you have a new puppy laying around looking so freakin' cute you couldn't possibly spend too much time cooking.
The ingredients were chopped and prepped in about the time the oven took to preheat.

• 1 cup rice, i used saffron
• 3 medium sized chicken breasts
• 3 small hot peppers
• 1 large onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• Sprig lemon thyme
• 2 bay laves
• Pinch dried basil and oregano
• 1 pint turkey stock (about 9 ounces of very rich stock/gelatin plus white wine and water to fill the pint or cup)
• 2 cups water
• Seasonings: allspice, salt, pepper, turmeric, smoked paprika

Place the rice in a casserole dish. Sprinkle chopped veggies evenly on top. Coat chicken on both sides with remaining seasonings, place on top of rice and cover all with the liquid. Cover well with foil and bake for about 1 hour 15 minutes up to 1.5 hours, until it's all bubbly and the rice is cooked and chicken is up to temp: 180.

Serve with a side of something green for a more complete meal. Peas would be great, or green beans. My stupid green bean plants aren't giving me any fruit though, so this is all we got. Very tasty, and great leftover too.

Cheese added as a bonus :)
What's your favorite easy meal?

Recipe: Tuna Casserole

I may not have taken any pictures of this delicious meal, but i felt this particular draft worth posting. I'd been very 'good' all week long - eating small dinners with low carbs, eating the 'right' number of calories throughout the day, and limiting my wine consumption to nearly socially tolerable amounts. I felt i owed myself a Friday night meal of delicious. This is what i came up with.

Tuna Casserole
(portions are approximate - Serves two generously, 3 with smaller portions)

• 2 cans tuna in water, drained
• 1/2 pint raw milk
• 2 slices cheddar, diced (about 2 ounces probably)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 onion, diced
• Some garlic
• Generous sprinkle hot smoked paprika
• Pinch oregano - dried
• Pinch turmeric - dried
• 1 diced jalapeno
• Frozen peas - 1/2 to 1 cupish
• Whole wheat shells pasta
• Splash white wine
• Salt / pepper
• Sprinkle chilly powder
• 3 egg yolks
• Seasoned bread crumbs
• 2 pieces of bread sprayed with olive oil spray, sprinkled in salt and herbs, set on top of the toaster oven while it pre heated for the casserole

Oven at 350.
2 saucepans:
In one, bring water to boil and cook the pasta according to directions. Drain.
Meanwhile put all the herbs and onions in the other saucepan with a splash of white wine. Simmer the onions until they begin to soften, don't let it dry out. Add milk. My milk separated a little from the acidic wine. This did not bother me. Simmer the milk with the herbs until the pasta is ready - try not to let it boil or reduce overly much.
In the casserole, place the chopped jalapeno and peas. When the pasta is ready, put it in the casserole and mix the veggies into it. Add the tuna and mix. You may want to add some seasoning directly to the pasta. Add the 3 egg yolks to the milk sauce and stir very well. Whisk it up! Don't let the yolks cook, per say. The yolks will thicken the sauce and make the whole casserole super decadent. You could probably use a lot more milk than i did - it's all i had. My casserole was not soupy - so go ahead and add more milk if you care to.  Remove the bay leaves and pour the milk sauce over noodles and mix well. Sprinkle cheese on top, mix in a little, then top with the bread crumbs.

Bake until it's bubbly and the bread is browning to your liking. About 20 or so minutes. I like how some of the noodles show and get crispy on the sides. The yolks really did make teh whole casserole rich - like butter would, but with protein maximized.  This made for a super delicious way to end the week - and though it was a bit heavy and carb loaded, there was still plenty of protein for my growing muscles and brain cells.

Oatmeal/Chocolate Cookies Recipe

Gosh, i have been remiss in the recipe department lately! That is mostly due to the nature of what i've been eating lately: the last of the garden lettuce/spinach/fava beans in big, delicious, balanced dinner salads every night. People look at my funny when i say i eat salad for dinner - as the main course. They clearly have not had one of my salads. They're as big as my head and leave me full and satisfied until morning and usually have a pretty decent amount of protein in the form of nuts, seeds, beans and corn, or fish/chicken.

Anyhoo - last night i whipped together some delicious tilapia and sweet potato oven fries, but as with most last minute dinners i just threw togehter things i knew would go together well and consumed heartily - no proportions noted in which to share with you to use. Most of my dinners are like this "miranda glops"  or  other one dish sort of meals that contain mysterious and wonderful things. I made the hubby's fish into two fish burgers, and mine was a delightfully steaming plate full of two fillets and caramelized onions. Yum! Sweet potato fries are so easy and quick to pull together too, and go great with lots of things.  The basics:

• Wash potatoes well
• cut in half, in half again, and slice into fairly evenly sliced 'fries' about 1/4 inch thick or less
• Spray baking sheet with nonstick
• Scatter the pieces of potato and spray with nonstick (you can also toss in a bowl with olive oil)
• Coat with seasonings: salt, pepper, chilly powder, cayenne, garlic, paprika whatever you want!
• Flip and repeat
• Stick in the oven at about 400 and bake until a good sizzle and squish when touched (about 20 minutes). Flip a few times during that time. I also increased the tempt to 425 for about 10 minutes to add a little more crisp

But today i'm going to try something i rarely if ever do: bake cookies. I have a new neighbor, and i like to welcome new neighbors. He's a young 20 something guy who works at a gym, i figure he can afford to eat a few cookies, and the husband would be happy to have cookies baked when he comes home, i'm sure.  I'll whip together something kind of healthy/naughty and see what happens. I'd like to throw coconut into this recipe, but some people don't like coconut (!) so i don't want to risk alienating the dude. I have an old recipe i used to bake known as "Real F***in' Good Cookies."  They are made with hazelnut flour, dark chocolate and golden raisons. They are to die for and they're almost vegan. I think i'll try and mix that recipe with oatmeal cookies and add some cocoa powder and see what happens! Here's what i came up with (TOTAL EXPERIMENT!):

• 1 cup oats
• 1 cup flour  all purpose/white whole wheat
• 1 cup ground almonds and pecans
• -1/4 cup rapadura + good squirt of agave nectar
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 egg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• cinnamon
• 1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
• dash vanilla
• 3 Tablespoons milk
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• Bake 350 11-12 minutes

Upon tasting the batter: not sweet or salty enough.
I added some coconut to the second batch which seemed to brighten the taste somewhat.
These could really use chopped dates, golden raisons, chocolate chips: SOMEthing. But i had none of those things, so they remain not quite sweet or salty enough. I added a pinch more sugar and agave and the cookies turned out dense little balls of something. Woudlnt' really call them cookies. Rather doughy. Miranda cookies i guess. I honestly thought the oil of the ground nuts would make them moister. I think they're pretty tasty though. I think if i did this again i'd double the cocoa powder, or better yet use melted bakers chocolate. That would help with the moisture as well.

All in all, not a bad outcome. They're doughy cookies, which is fine. Good for an after lunch sweet without too much whamo sugar. Might make awesome ice cream sandwiches if they were bigger... hmmmmmmmmmmmm ice cream saaaaandwiiiiiiiiiich.

Have a great weekend!

Fish Tacos in Homemade Corn Tortillas

I got a new tortilla press for my birthday, and i am stoked to try it out!
Homemade corn tortillas sound super easy - but will they be plagued with the same "cracked in the middle when trying to fold, taco contents everywhere but in mouth" problem many store bought corn tortillas have?

Tortillas (makes 7-8):

• 1 cup masa
• 2/3 cups cold water
• 1/8 tsp salt
• optional flavorings, i added some chilly powder

(ratios of masa to water are generally found on the package of masa - can be increased or decreased per the amount of tortillas you desire)

Fish filling:

• Fillets tilapia, one per person
• Generous lathering of the following herbs/seasonings
• cumin, cardamom, salt, pepper, chilly powder (optional), lime juice, garlic powder

Optional filling ingredients/condiments:
Chopped cilantro, salsa, ranch dressing, habanero sauce,  coleslaw (without the mayo or miracle whip, plus more vinegar, some mirin, and green onions from my garden instead of a vidalia).

Mix the masa with the salt then the water, blending to form a dough. Let dough rest, covered for about 20 minutes. When ready, form into 1 1/2 inch balls, one at a time placing in tortilla press (sandwiched betwixed wax paper) and press flat. Carefully peel wax paper off of tortilla, not the other way around. If you accidentally break off a chunk of tortilla, just reform the ball and squish again. Heat two minutes per side in a hot pan on medium heat. Place in a tortilla warmer or lidded pan (off heat) until ready to use. Tortillas can also be frozen.

For the fish, simply slather the herbs on each side of the fish, stick them on a baking sheet and back about 15-20 minutes on 350. You want the fish to be sizzling, cooked through (firm to the touch) but not dried out. Can be kept on 'warm' or on top of the warm-from-cooking oven between taco construction/consumption.

Delicious! Pictured here with habanero sauce, diced cilantro and freshly made coleslaw (with a side of homemade mayo for the heck of it). The little tortillas ended up being about 65 calories a piece and scrumptious! AND: They folded well! No breakage! Yipee!
No picture of the folded taco,  (again i was anxious to EAT not photograph) but the husband agrees: "These fold great, very sturdy."

FYI: i skipped the 'let them rest' portion of the preparation: i simply mixed the dough, rolled into balls and covered with a moist towel while preparing the fish. As fish cooked, i pressed and cooked the tortillas. By the time all the tortillas were made the fish was perfectly cooked: couldn't be easier.
So, don't be afraid to make your own tortillas. The press was a whopping 17 dollars at my local feed store, a great investment for quick, delicious, bendable, homemade tortillas anytime you please.

Do you prefer corn or flour tortillas? Have you ever made your own?

Sprouted Bread - Trial and Error

Well, that was a very satisfying breakfast, but i cna't say as the bread was an actual "success."

My friend Erin found this recipe the other day and i was intrigued. With whole grains selling for around $1 a pound and sprouted grain bread selling for closer to $4 a loaf - i too would like to try my hand at homemade sprouted grain bread. I put up some seeds to soak and in 3 days had this lovely jar'o seeds to work with:

The recipe was easy, and i will continue to play around with it, as it didn't actually work HA.

• sprouted grains (recipe called for 2 cups, i have no idea how many i actually used since i didn't measure them before they sprouted) i used red winter wheat
• nuts and seeds (recipe calls for all sorts of specific kinds i used:
• hemp seeds
• flax seeds - whole and ground
• brazil nuts
• almonds
• dates
• T applesauce
• tsp salt
• I added a pinch of baking soda for the heck of it

Blend that all together in a food processor and form a brick in a pan. Um, this brick is not even CLOSE to the size of the pan..... And it really never changed. Or cooked through. I baked for 2 hours on 225 and it was still squishy. I baked another half an hour, still soft inside. Perhaps the applesauce was too wet, perhaps the grains were sprouted a little too much. I dunno.
Even as toast this bread wouldn't hold together. Tastes good, mind you - but it's not exactly bread.

Do you have a better sprouted bread recipe/technique i should try next time?

Mini Quiches - Enough for an Army!

A dozen eggs on the counter: 20 mini quiches in the pan!

I've been planning a big quiche cooking extravaganza for quite some time, and today i implemented it. I've been saving up the girls eggs for about a week (they're laying between 17 and 25 eggs a week these days!) and this afternoon i harvested some broccoli and spinach and got to work.  i bought a gallon of raw milk last friday and hadn't done anything with the cream yet, so i made these extra decadent.

• 1 dozen eggs, scrambled
• shredded cheddar
• 2 cups raw cream
• bunch spinach, julienned
• chopped broccoli
• various herbs: rosemary, basil, oregano, thyme
• salt and pepper
• cayenne
• garlic

First i sauteed the onions, herbs, seasonings, garlic and broccoli unti the onions softened, meanwhile scrambling the eggs with the cream and some seasoning salt.

I sprayed some muffin tins and dropped spoonfuls of the sauteed veg into each spot.

Next i poured in some of the egg mixture, leaving room at the top.

Topping that with the spinach, then a little more egg and the cheese.

Into the oven they went at 375 for 20-25 minutes. Inside the oven they were puffed to double their size! So pretty and tantalizing. But sadly upon removal from the oven they sank back down into deflated, sad little puddles. I'm sure they'll still be uber delicious. But i'm disapointed.

2 are destined for our tummies this evening, along with some cooked sprouted lentils. The rest will be frozen and packaged for quick, easy dinners for my hungry working husband.
I'm pleased enough with the results, i'm sure they're scrumptious, but i'm wondering if i missed some step to ensure the maintenance of "puff."

**update: apparently quiches aren't supposed to stay puffed (vs souffle). Though it seems when i bake them in larger pans they stay at least  a LITTLE puffed.

Does anyone know of a way to keep quiche from falling when you remove it from the oven?

Bagels with Minced Garlic and Sesame Seeds

I cannot take any credit for this recipe, other than having the confidence to try something new. I was completley sure i was failing, but they turned out QUITE scrumptious indeed, especially served with my homemade lox and cultured cream cheese.
I used this recipe and followed it to the T except that i forgot to cover the formed bagels with plastic before putting them in the fridge. I did the 'will they float' test, and they failed. But after boiling and topping them this morning they baked out just great.

Work station ready. Pan with corn meal, plate with toppings, bagels ready to boil.

We ate one half right out of the oven, and the other half toasted, both with cream cheese, lox, and tomato, both delicious.

I chose this recipe because i could prep the dough the night before and just cook them in the morning in time for breakfast. I think i'll try a few more recipes before i've decided my favorite. Though i'll have to do these experiments few and far between, or with lots of guests - as even one bagel has thrown off my digestion and i'm sure isn't helping my weight loss needs. Sometimes we have to forsake our 'rules' for a little bit of taste-heaven, though don't you think?

Do you have a favorite bagel recipe, or trick to guarantee delicious bagels?

"Canada Goose" Loaf

No, we're not actually eating a "honker" as i grew up calling them. My husband wanted to eat something themed with the hosting country of the Olympics, this year that's Canada. I couldn't think of anything we had on hand or could get cheaply or easily that would fill that roll (elk, caribou, moose?), so i'm making a turkey meatloaf with ground turkey meat i had in the freezer.
I'm making this up as i go along, but my mom says that's the best way to do it. Here's what i ended up with:

• 1 finely chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves + some jarred diced garlic
• 1/2 12.oz can of tomato paste
• assorted herbs and spices to taste + salt and pepper
• splash Worcestershire sauce
• 3/4 cup(ish) chicken stock
• 2 eggs
• 1 package lean ground turkey
• ~1 cup oats

Saute the first 6 ingredients until onions are soft. Add more chicken stock if the pan is simmering dry. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a loaf pan with nonstick.

In a bowl, mix together turkey and oatmeal. Add the sauteed onion mixture (let it cool first!) and mix thoroughly, add the 2 eggs, scrambled first and mix it all up until it's well blended. I could have added more oats and have the loaf be oatier, but this turned out moist and meaty. Spoon the meat mixture into the loaf pan and top with remainder of tomato paste. Cook for about 1 hour, or until toothpick (or chopstick in my case) comes out clean.
Next time i think i'll use two packages turkey with a bit more oats and see how it turns out.

 

Served with freshly picked and steamed broccoli from the garden.

This was SUPER delicious, and happened to time out perfectly (between mixing and rising bagel dough and simmering herbal hair rinse) to eat during the opening ceremonies. The husband reviews: "some of the best meatloaf i've ever had. It's true." That's a good review, if you ask me!
Don't feel limited to the ingredients i listed. This would be great with mushrooms, hot peppers, sweet peppers, corn, you name it. This mixture turned out smooth, moist, and evenly textured. I look forward to sandwiches with the last little bit left (we had a hard time not eating the whole loaf!)

Did you make anything special for the Olympic opening cermonies?

Homemade Crackers

My lox is ready! What better way to celebrate (other than bagels and cream cheese which WILL HAPPEN) than some homemade crackers. This was my first time making crackers - and i have mixed feelings:
A. i may never buy crackers again as it is sooo easy and cheap to make and i can flavor them exactly as i see fit
B. i may never bake crackers again as they are so freakin' delicious i can't stop eating them!
hahaha.
Anyway, the recipe i used is a mix of several cracker recipes i found online from Towards Sustainability,  Chowhound, and Bliss Tree. I added fresh herbs and pepper from the garden and chose the oils i prefer:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 pinch finely chopped fresh oregano
• 3 cloves garlic, also finely chopped
• 5 chile pequins, mashed
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt (i used fine sea salt)
• 1/3 cup oil (i mixed olive and safflower)
• 3/4 cup warm water
• +garlic salt for topping

Pre-heat oven to 400. First mix the dry ingredients, then add first the oil then the warm water. Mush to form a consistent dough. Divide in half and roll out on two greased cookie sheets. I would roll them out thinner than i did and get to the far sides of the cookie sheets. Sprinkle with garlic salt and cut with a pizza cutter. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
Mine did not get totally crispy in this time, i used whole wheat flour and didn't roll them as thinly as i could have. I recommend either rolling them more thinly, or increasing cooking time to at least 15 minutes. I rebaked them after they'd cooled by 4 minutes and now they're perfecto.

These are SO GOOD. They taste a lot like those rosemary crostini crackers you can get at Whole Foods, but less oil or sourdoughy.  They filled the house with a delicious garlic smell, and readiness was determined with the sound of sizzle, slight browning, and a lifting of the edges and puffing of the center.

The lox is also super good. Maybe a little dilly - i have a hard time pegging dill as a flavor, but the husband mentioned "dilly." It was tricky to cut up without wasting, but the chickens and dog appreciated the skin. We're excited to pair it with bagel, as the crunch of the cracker was a bit discordant with the smooth of the salmon.
**next day: yes, i think the lox is perhaps 'too dilly' Next time i'll season with more fresh chives and a little less dill, and maybe def use all the sugar/salt mixture - i didn't use it all this batch as it seemed to be more than necessary.

PS: i stored the lox on a sheet of wax paper in a freezer ziplock. Two bags in the fridge, two in the freezer.

Can't wait for my next cocktail party so i can serve from scratch crackers with my from scratch dips.

Things just keep getting better and better around here.